Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-14
THE
THE
GREAT BANK ROBBERY.
A Romance OF the METROPOLIS Founded
Upon Notes From The Diary
of Inspector Bynas.
BY JULIAN HAWTHORNE, AUTHOR OF
"GARTH," ETC, ETC.
Copyrighted, 1887. by o. NJ. Durham al
rights reserved.
CHAPTER XIV

Copyrighted, 1857. by o. NJ. Durham. Al
rights reserved.
| CHAPTER XIV.
! The first intimation that Sheyelin had
received of the existence OF the plot 20
ROB the Manhattan Bank dated back to
tue early part OF 1874, when he had occu-
pied his position as watchman nearly two
years. He was one day accosted by q
man whom he had known in his boyhood,
and hsd met from time to time since
then, who informed him that he and four
or FIVE others desired to make an attempt
On the bank vault. He pointed cut that
the ManhstJan kept st least as much
money in its sales SIS any bank in New
| York, end that its position rendered it
more easily accessible than enY other.
He told Shevelin that his share Of the
plumber would make him rich mau, and
that all he would be required to do would
be to look another way until the gang got
into the bank. He would run no risks,
and his reward would be enormous.
For long time Sheveln turned q deaf
ear to these proposals. He was G mLrried
man he was proud of the trust reposed
in him, and he was spprehenalve of the
crime. The burglar, however, would not
take no for an answer, and he persisted
in his efforts until Shevelin's good reso-
lutions finally weakened and gave way.
He told his friend to hold his men in
readiness and he would fix a date. when
he should be on duty, for the accomplish
ment OF the robbery.
The name Of SheYelin's friend was Tim
| Tracy, sud he was already we'll known to
the police. He WIS plumber by trade,
and by practice general thief; sturdy,
muscular fellow, over six feet in height
snd desperate man when COrnered He
had served more than one term of impris-
onment, and more than once he had es-
capped from confinement. Among others
who were associated with him in this en-
terprise were the famous Johnny Dobbs
and George L. Howard, Otherwise known
as Western George, q gentleman By birth,
8 man OF collegiste education, g skilled
machinist and in many respects the a5lest
and most remarkable bank burglar that
ever operated in America.
The first thing to be done was to raise
money enough to pay for the manufsnture
Of the tne tools necessary TO open the
safes. No small suH will suffice for
such s purpose. only the best materials
viii serve, aud the most thorough and
/ expert Workmanship. Instead Of adopt
ing the obvious course Of applying to
John d Grady, whose purse wss always
| open TO the needs Of his irienda-if
! backed by reasonable prospect Of cent.
per cent.-Tracy chose the more indie
! pendent, but more perilous course of
raising the wind by promiscuous robbery.
Burglary, pocketpicking, neaktlieving,
! hSufyrpkSy rphhnry oOtbiDO coroa r.
fffm that offered a prospect of increasing
/ MS capital. The stake he was
playing for was so large that
could he secure it he would be above
the need If further labor for the rest Of
/ mis- life. al was gong on prosperouslv
when envious fate caused Mr.. Tracy to
be caught in the &C OF emp'ying q gen
! tleman's pockets on the highway and ne
vas committed TO states prison for
term OF years. The res Of the gang dis
persed for the time being, and thus the
! first attack on the Manhattan Bank
ended ere it had well begun.
johnny D0bbs was the next champion
to take up the jimmy let fall by the gal
liant Tracy, and with him were George
Howard and man who now appears for
the first time on the scene, but whose
burgiar!ous renoWn entities him to be
dubbed the Napoleon Of mis- profession
no other than the redoubtable Jimmy
Hope. These three men were together
equal to any undertaking, and
the combination was made still stronger
oy the addition of one George Mason,
who was not only master Of his Graf: but
man, who, like Dobbs, had no objection
10 using revolver when occasion de-
msnded This band OF operators did NJ
| suffer from the pecuuiGry drawback
which had brought the first one 10 such a
disastrous end, for they had received sub
stsntial aid from Mr.. Grady, and we're
provided with all the implements they re-
quired. Grady had else furnished them
with special Information regarding the
nature of the combination lock with which
they had to deal, and with certain other
useful details as to the internal arrange
ments Of the bank By what means Grady
obtained this knowledge he did not state,
nor was it ever made known until the
publication of the present narrative. Few
secrets have been better kept than this,
which is, to all practical intents and pur-
poses, secret still.
Meanwhile Sheveiin, or being ap.
preached by Dobbs, manifested q coyness
which may have been either real or af-
fected, but was probably chiefly the re-
suit OF timidity. Dobbs, however, wooed
his consent by representing to him that
his former capitulattn to Tracy was
known, and thst nothir e would be easier
than to drop a hint to the officers of tn
bank to The effect that their Sunda y
Waterman WAS no better than he should
be. In view of the possible results %
such communication, Shevelin sue
cumbed for the second time, and one "a
tions began.
This time they proceeded more sci
tifcally and deliberately. George 10 G.
ard, on learning the kind of lock tina
protected the vault, procured another by
the same maker, and of Identical struc-
ture, and set to work to study out the
beast means OF beating it. After several
weeks CT experimenting, he hit upon The
simple device OF boring d hole directly
underneath the combination plate, which
done, nothing was essier than,
by means Of long steel wire, to throw
back the tumblers of the lock, and open
the door. This grand discovery Of How
ards removed the chief obstacle in the
psth OF the burglars, but before 1t could
be put in practice an incident happened
which once more postponed the execution
of the Job.
Howard had for some time previous,
been on i'll terms with certain OF his COM
rsdes, the cause whereof vas OBSCURE,
but it was understood that there was q
woman at the bottom of it. A few days
| after he had solved the lock OrOhlem he